Solenoid and its electrical connections



(No Model.) i H. H. HOSFORD. SOLENOID AND ITS ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS.

No. 473,929. Patented May 3, 1892.

WtneQ/se@ ID- Unuenbov 0. 03u/Wang;

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

HENRY H. HOSFORD, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

SOLENOID AND ITS ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 473,929, dated May 3,1892.

Application led June 3, 1891. Serial No. 394,917. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, HENRY H. HosFoRD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Solenoids and theirElectrical Connections; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to solenoids and their electrical connections andthe object of the invention is to provide lneans whereby to Shift theposition or change the sign ot' the magnetic poles of a solenoid withoutmaking and breaking the energizingcurrent and without abruptly changingthe direction of said current, and,'in consequence of the foregoing,without injurious sparking at the contact-points. It is obvious thatsuch a device may be advantageously used to produce a reciprocatingmotion, and it might also be used in other forms of apparatus where itis desired that magnetic poles may be formed and caused to change theirposition or to be reversed in polarity without making and breaking theenergizing-current.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is J -a diagrammatic longitudinalsection of a solenoid and its core and the means for connecting theenergizing-coils with a source of current, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsectional view of a modied form of a solenoid and its core and the meansfor connecting the energizing-coils with a source of current.

Referring to Fig. l, A is a solenoid. It is formed by winding upon atube or support o of non-magnetic material the coils l 2 3, &c. Thesecoils are all wound in the same sense or direction and may be formed ofa single continuous conductor having loops thrown out at points b c dj,or they may be wound separately and joined by placing the terminals ofthe adjoining sections in electrical connection at the points h c dj, asin Fig. 2. The free ends a 7c of the outer sections or coils l and 10are joined, as here shown, by the loop J. Thus the conductor of theenergizing-coils, with the connecting-loop J, forms a permanentlycontinuous or closed circuit without an electrical break. In order toadmit the current to the coils and so energize them, I employ thecontact plates or segments 0.2 h2 c2, &c. These contact plates orsegments are electrically connected to the conductor at the extreme endsof the solenoid at the points ct and 7c and between each two adjoiningsection at the points Z) c dj, respectively. C and D are brushesinsulated from one another, but mechanically united by the bar E. Thisbar is capable of longitudinal reciprocating movement on thesupporting-plate F, and the said bar E is so placed with respect to thesegments a2 h2 c2, dac., that as it is moved back and forth on itssupport the brushes C and D are carried over the segments d2 b2 c2,dsc., and make contact with them successively. Furthermore, the segmentsor plates d? b2 c2, tbc., are so arranged that as the brush C makescontact with a2 the brush D makes contact with f2, and as the brush Cleaves a2and makes contact with b2 the brush D leaves f2 and makescontact with g2, and so on, as will be understood from the iigure. Thesegments or plates d2 b2 c2, dac., are separated by air-spaces orinsulating material and are so constructed with respect to the brushes Cand D that the brushes do not break contact with one pairof segments orplates until after they have established contact with the pair ofsegments next adjoining. The brushes C and D are permanently connectedwith a source of electrical energy. Cr and M are stops so placed as tolimit the movement of the bar E. rl`he sections or coils l 2 3, &c., arelnade as nearly alike as possible and have substantially the sameresistance.

From the foregoing description and Fig. l it will be understood that thesegments c2 h2 c2, thc., are so arranged with respect to the brushes Cand D that the brushes in all positions include between them one-half ofthe magnetizing-coils-that is, the points of the closed circuit withwhich brushesC and D are in connection are always electricallyopposite-t'. e., divide the closed circuit into two parts of equalresistance. It follows that the current will be equally divided andfollow two electrically-parallel paths through the coils. The assumeddirection of the current is shown by the arrows.

It will be seen that to the lOO current entering by the brush C twopaths are open, and as these paths are of the same resistance thecurrent will divide equally, one half passing by the coils l, 2, 3, 4,and 5 in succession to the brush D, and one half by the coils l0, 9, S,7, and G in succession to the brush D. Now as the coilsare all wound inthe same sense or direction it is evident that the current circulates inthe coils l, 2, 3,4, and 5 in a direction opposite to that in the coils10, 9, S, 7, and 6. Hence magnetic poles of the same sign will be formedat the ends of the solenoid at the points n a', and a consequent pole ofopposite sign will be formed half-way between them adjacent to thepoints. If the direction of the current be as assumed, north poles willbe formed at nu and asouth pole at s. Now by moving the bar E back andforth upon its support it is evident that the poles n n at the ends ofthe solenoid may be caused to alternate in polarity and that theintervening consequent poles may be caused to move to andfrolongitudinally. Hence a magnetic core B', which is free to movelongitudinally, may be caused to move back and forth under the inliuenceof the shifting and changing poles n s n. The core B is preferably woundwith a magnetizing-coil traversed by a eentinuous current, so as to givethe Core a constant polarity. However, the magnetizingcoil is notabsolutely necessary, and either a permanent magnet or a soft-iron coremay take the place of the electroanagnet B.

In the form of apparatus shown in Fig. lit will be seen that in allpositions of thebrushes C and D magnetic poles will be formed at theends of the solenoid, and also one or two consequent poles atintermediate points, the position of the consequent poles at anyparticular time depending on the position at that time of the brushes Cand D. From the principle of the apparatus it will be seen that when theproper connections are made with a source of electrical energy a currentwill traverse all the coils of the solenoid, circulating` in one half ofthe coils in one direction and in the other half in the other direction.At no time during the operation of the apparatus will any of the coilsbe cut out of the circuit, except that a single coil or pair of coilsmay be momentarily short-circuited by the brushes as they pass from onecontact-segment to another. For instance, as the brush C moves from a tob it may for an instant make contact with both of the segments and somomentarily short-circuit the coil l.

The arrangement of the bar E with its attached brushes and the contactplates or segments a2 b2 c2, tbc., is sho wn as a simple and effectivemeans of admitting current to the coils. However, other arrangements arepossible, and for certain purposes or in certain combinations might bepreferable. For instance, the bar E might be mounted on a pivot on whichit could rock or revolve, thus carrying the brushes C and D over thesegments a2 b2 c2, tbc., arranged in disk-like or cylindrical form. Anarrangement of this sort is shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 2,the construction of the solenoid and core are shownsubstantially as already explained for Fig. l. In this instance we havedisks r r2, the., of non-magnetic material placed between the coils orsections l 2 tbc., on the tube or support o. Similar disks might beemployed between the coils in Fig. l, and they might also be omitted inFig. 2. The permanent connection of the outer terminals a k of the endsections l and IO (represented by J in Fig. l) is shown in Fig. 2 asmade through the plate or segmentazk?. Any equivalent of these ways maybe adopted. C and D are brushes insulated from one another, butmechanically connected by the bar E and adapted to make contact with thesegments a2 7a2 h2 c2, tbc., successively as the contact-bar E is rockedor revolved on its pivot e. G and M are stops to limit the motion of thebar E', the same as in Fig. l. H and l are segments permanentlyconnected with the terminals of a source of electrical energy andadapted to make Contact with the brushes C and D', respectively, in alltheir positions. As will be understood by this figure, the arrangementof the segments and brushes is such that by rocking bar E on its pivotthe same ends are served as by moving bar E, Fig. l, to and fro on itssupport.

Still otherarrangements of thebrushcs and contact-segmentsare possible.For instance,

the segments might be so arranged as to admit of making the desiredconnections by a continuous revolution of the bar E in the samedirection. Again, the segments inight be so arranged as to present tothe brushes a cylindrical surface; but these and all such obviousvariations of the arrangements of parts,

though not expressly set forth in this description, are regarded withinthe scope of the invention and as covered by the claims.

In the diagrammatic View, Fig. l, each convolution of the wire about thetube O represents whatis termed a coil or section of the solenoid.

The invention set forth in the foregoing description and covered by theclaims may be expressed in a further modification, in which there is asolenoid having a magnetic core fitted to have magnetic poles inducednot only at its extremity but also at one or more intermediate points,and surrounding coils capable of being placedin such connection with theterminals of a source of electrical energy that the current will divideitself to pass through the coils by more than two electrically-parallelpaths of equal resistance, thus forming a multipolar or compoundsolenoid.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a solenoid, a series of energizing-coils IZO formed of a conductorclosed from one coil to the other and having the outer extremities ofsaid conductors closed on each other, thereby forming a closed orunbroken electrical circuit, substantially as described.

2. A solenoid consisting of two or more coils, conductors fro in onecoil directly to the other, and a conductor between the outer ends ofthe two outer coils,substantially as described.

3. A solenoid having energizing-coils electrically connected directlyone to another, and a conductor connecting two of said coils located indifferent parts of the solenoid and having other coils between them,siibstautially as described.

4. A solenoid composed of a series of electricallyconnected coils andcontact-points,

having each a conductor connected directly with two of said coils,substantially as described.

5. A solenoid composed of electrically-connected coils and separatecontact-points and conductors for said coils, in combination with anindependent conductor connecting two of said coils, and brushes toengage said contactpoints, substantially as described.

6. In a solenoid, a series of energizing-coils having the terminals ofadjoining coils in permanent electrical connection and the outerterminals of the extreme or end coils in permanent electricalconnection, thereby forming a closed electrical circuit, substantiallyas described.

7. In a solenoid, a magnetic core, a nonmagnetic shell or support forthe coils, a conductor forming the coils and wound in the same directionaround such support and having the outer terminals of the end coils inpermanent electrical connection, so as to form a closed electricalcircuit, substantially as de-- scribed.

8. In a solenoid,a magnetic core capable of longitudinal movement, aseries of motor-coils having the terminals of the sections in electricalconnection to form a closed electrical circuit, and means for connectingthe closed circuit at two or more points to a source of electricalenergy, substantially as described.

9. In a solenoid, a series vof coils forminga continuous conductor andpermanent electrical connection of the terminals of the conductor, so asto form a closed electrical circuit, substantially as described.

lO. In a solenoid, a series of coils with permanent electricalconnection through the coils and outside of the same to form a completeor closed electrical circuit, contact-points for admitting current tothe coils, means, such as movable brushes, for connecting the saidcontact-points with a source of electrical energy and to make successivecontact with said points, substantially as described.

1l. In a solenoid, a movable magnetic core, motor-coils so united as toform a permanently-closed electrical circuit, and means for connectingthe circuit at two or more points with a source of electrical energy,substantially as described.

l2. In a solenoid, a magnetic core, coils around the core so united asto form a closed electrical circuit, and means for connecting the coilsor sets of coils with the two terminals of a source of electricalenergy, substantially as described.

13. In a solenoid, energizing-coils so united as to forni apermanently-closed electrical circuit, means for connecting theterminals of a source of electrical energy to the closed circuit at suchpoints as to divide the closed circuit into electrically parallel pathsof substantially equal resistance, and means for shifting theconnections of said terminals from one set of such points to another setof such points on the closed circuit, substantially as described.

lVitness my hand to the foregoing specification this 29th day of May,1891.

HENRY H. HOSFORD.

